Waterproofing Drywall Before Tiling

Tiles are ideal for showers bathtubs and backsplashes.

Waterproofing drywall before tiling.

Drywall can be primed and painted to be waterproof. Determine how much tile you ll need. Elastomeric or liquid waterproofing membranes are one of the most convenient methods of waterproofing shower walls before installing tile. You protect it with a layer of water proofing material.

You ll need a design plan before you start attaching the tile. Remove the old shower tile and green board drywall. I will refer to all the membranes as. Repeat the previous steps to apply waterproof membrane to the remaining shower walls.

Smooth the membrane with the drywall knife. After the second coat is dry and the whole shower area is prepped it s time to make tile decisions before going any further. The top objective is to create a smooth and uniform surface on the drywall for the tile to be evenly placed. You should not ever put tile directly onto drywall even the green board water resistant kind.

The tile had been in decent shape but i d grown to hate it and i finally had the budget to get a better bathroom. If you want to update your kitchen or bathroom walls with tiles you don t have to remove existing painted. For our shower we chose a running bond pattern. Waterproofing and tiling the master shower an overview 1.

Regular drywall can be used as a base for tiles in a shower but only as an absolute last resort. Take a 4 inch wide strip of membrane crease it vertically down its center then press it into the wet mortar. Spread mortar along the vertical wall corners with a 10 inch wide drywall knife. The tile does add a layer of waterproofing protection but the real heart of the system is in the wedi board behind the tile.

So where i last left off i had taken out the old shower tile and cut out the damaged drywall. Measure each wall area calculating the width times height. Even in the best of scenarios the tile and grout will eventually wear down leaving behind a clear route for water to seep through and soak into the drywall. You should be attaching the tile to cement.

You don t really water proof the drywall itself. These membranes consist of products such as custom building products redgard and laticrete s hydrobarrier and hydroban and mapei s aquadefense. This surface will be the foundation which holds your beautiful backsplash together over the years and a. These materials can be used to make your drywalling projects in basements bathrooms and other potentially humid rooms waterproof so you don t have to spend extra money on.

Preparation is the most important step for drywall before any tile installation project. Lumps and bumps lead to misaligned tiles.